Bloody Little Secret
by basil and dill
Summary: Baz sets out in search of a meal and unbeknownst to him, Simon follows. Baz desperately wants to keep the knowledge of his ahhhm affliction to himself but that may prove impossible.
1. Chapter 1

"Baz, what are you doing?"

Simon's voice brought Baz's head up with a snap and he dropped the limp rat back into the cage. Alarm shot through his entire body and refused to ground, it just circulated through his body and frazzled his thoughts. Simon had followed him. Simon was standing behind him and there was nothing Baz could do, short of conjuring an invisibility spell. Even his muddy brain knew that it was too late for that. _The cat is out of the bag, or should I say _rat_, ha ha, _Baz thought. A slight trickle of blood twisted its way down Baz's chin and the salty, coppery smell prevented his fangs from retreating.

Baz focused his eyes on the window in front of him and could just make out the silhouette of Simon standing in the doorway. The light from the corridor was the only illumination and Simon's face was in the shadow. _Maybe that's for the best_. There was no way Baz could talk or act his way out of this.

"Baz, it's the middle of the bloody night!" In the reflection Baz saw Simon take a step into the room. "What in Crowley's name made you wander halfway across the school to the Magical Creatures laboratory?"

"Ignorant as ever," Baz muttered. He brought his hand up to his chin and in the pretense of scratching, tried to wipe away the blood.

"What are _you _muttering for? You're the one who's spending his time sneaking through the school at ungodly hours of the night."

When Baz made no move to respond, Simon irritatedly crossed the room and though Baz saw Simon move in the reflection, it was too late.

Baz tried to retreat but Simon had already grabbed hold of his shoulder.

"Is this blood?" Simon asked while squinting his eyes. He was looking at the front of Baz's night robe. "Did you get into a fight? Is that what you were doing in here? You were meeting for a duel?" As he talked his eyes slowly made their way up Baz's shirt and Baz knew that he was running out of time. That their unspoken friendship shrouded in sarcasm and evil looks was coming to a premature end. The exhaustion he'd been fighting for so long landed a knockout punch. Baz closed his eyes in defeat.

By this time Simon's eyes had landed on his blood-smeared chin.

"The other guy got some punches in too, did he? Serves you right, trapezing around in the middle of the night just to stir up trouble," Simon said. Simon brought his hand up and caught his chin to tilt it to the faint light. At his unexpected touch, Baz's breath trembled out and his eyes flashed open. Simon froze, his fingers still gripping Baz's chin. Though Baz would have loved to delude himself and believe it was another reason that had Simon acting like this, he knew what Simon saw.

His exposed fangs.


	2. Chapter 2

Baz watched as emotions chased their way across Simon's face. But when Simon glanced down and saw the unconscious rat, understanding settled on his features. Baz watched Simon take in the inventory again: the bloody shirt, his bloody chin and the soon-to-be-dead rat. When he saw Simon's eyes heading north, making his way up to his eyes, he yanked his chin from Simon's grasp and walked over to the window.

He didn't want to see the revulsion and hatred swimming in Simon's eyes.

Vampires. They were hated by the wizarding community. Hunted by wizards. _Burned_. Baz was just so tiered, so incredibly tiered.

"Baz..." Simon breathed out. He was still rooted to the same spot.

"Baz," Simon tried again, "you're a..." his voice cut off.

Baz whipped around, frustration and fury throbbing through his veins. "VAMPIRE! Yes, Snow, I'm a vampire," Baz yelled. "You must be overjoyed, why don't you run along to the Mage and tell him the good news. I bet he'll even let you throw the first ball of fire."

Baz could feel the prickling behind his eyes and he told himself that it was only anger. He willed it away, the prickly feeling, not the anger. At the moment, it was easier being mad at Simon than it was to feel the aching sadness that he was trying to mask with his anger.

"Do you really think so little of me" Simon asked hoarsely. Simon took a step toward Baz but then stopped, as if unsure where he stood. Simon was two steps in front of Baz and he tried to catch his eye while Baz looked everywhere _but _at Simon.

Simon ran a hand through his already tousled hair and sighed. "It was so much easier when I could still convince myself that I hated you. That I watched you because I thought you were shady. That I followed you because you were planning something bad." Simon stopped, he didn't know how much to say.

Baz slowly looked at Simon as if seeing him for the first time. In disbelief.

"Snow, I'm a bloody _vampire_. My meals consist of petrified rats and the occasional rabbit." Baz took a step closer to Simon. "Do you know what it feels like to hear the heartbeat of your meal accelerate because it knows it's going to die? I can smell their fear, Simon." Baz looked pleadingly at Simon.

Simon reached out and placed his hand on Baz's cheek. Baz leaned into his touch. _So cruel. So unbelievably cruel. Doesn't he know that he's just driving the blade in deeper and when he leaves he'll just yank it out and more blood will weep out, _Baz thought while his skin gulped down Simon's warmth.

"Look at me, Baz." Baz tried to shift his head away but Simon grabbed his face with both hands and angled his face down. They were standing so close that the couple inches Baz had on Simon was more pronounced. So close that Baz had to grab hold of a life preserver, a piece of driftwood, of anything to stop himself from drowning in the ocean of blue. Simon matched his gaze, unwaveringly.

"Look at me," Simon repeated. "Do you see fear? Hatred? Disgust?" Simon paused and watched Baz's eyes flicker back and forth, eye to eye. While still maintaining his hold on Baz's eyes he continued, "You won't find it. I trust you without hesitation. That's saying a lot considering there's some look-alike of me trying to murder me every other Tuesday." Simon huffed out a breath of laughter.

Baz," he said gently, "I trust you and that's enough. It's enough for the both of us."

Baz kept still and mentally braced himself for the 'but' of it all.

I trust you... _but _that doesn't mean much because when you really think about it, don't we blindly trust people everyday; the bus driver to not watch the pretty lady across the street as the light changes colour, the chef when he tells us his three day old sushi is really fresh...

I trust you..._but_ that doesn't mean I'm foolish enough to test that trust everyday by being your roommate.

I trust you..._but _it's just too hard to be your friend.

I trust you..._but _I'll never love you.

_Oh Aces, I'm a dolt. The rat, it must have been a potion-tester. It probably had some herbal hallucinogenic or some damn crazy thing like that which would explain all of _this. Baz could feel the shadow of a giggle coming up. _It's not enough you dream about the boy, you have to hallucinate about him too? _With the absurdity of it all, the giggle broke free. _Stars, he even smells like apples_, and the thought made Baz laugh even harder.

Simon withdrew his hands and watched, perplexed.


	3. Chapter 3

"You know, it's uncanny," Baz said when he regained his composure. "The details, they're all there," Baz swept his hands up and down in the air in front of Simon. "Spitting image. The Mage himself couldn't do a better replication. I don't know what potion this is but if this is the side effect..."

"Replication? What...image...what are you talking about," Simon sputtered while spinning around, looking as though he would find his answer hiding behind him.

Baz walked towards Simon, hands in his pockets and a slight smile tugged at one side of his mouth.

_I don't need to pretend. For once in my miserably extended life I don't need to play the part_.

"Well of course you don't know, you're a hallucination; just a vision composed by my overworked imagination and a poisoned rat. Oh look," Baz said gleefully as he leaned in close to Simon's face, "you even have that freckle right below your eyebrow!" He turned around and practically skipped over to the nearest table and hopped up.

His legs were swinging in the air almost childishly as he eagerly leaned forward on his elbows. "You know, I can tell you anything my cold heart desires and it wouldn't make a rat's fart of a difference." Baz stopped breathlessly and looked at Simon who stood dumbfounded at this rapid change in Baz's character.

"I love cats." Baz blurted it out. He breathed out a laugh.

_Way to go Baz, you have a fake Simon in front of you and you can say anything but you feel compelled to talk about cats like a nine year old girl_

Baz shrugged in an effort to add some nonchalance to his pigtail-image inducing revelation. "They just have this grace that's so silent and yet so deadly. They're hunters by instinct and yet people still love them, why is that do you think?" Baz carried on without waiting for Simon to answer.

"And apples are my favorite fruit, of course" Baz shot Simon a wink while Simon just stared, mouth open, waiting for some sense of clarity to fly into his mouth.

Baz shifted a little on the table. "Now this one is truly mortifying, something the real Simon would never let me live down." Baz snickered. "See, when I was young we had this electrical box that showed different videos. It was a mundane contraption, they called it a television. Well, I developed quite a fondness for one of the shows, to this day I could probably still sing the theme song for the Power Puff Girls." Baz drew in a long breath to start the song but Simon interrupted him.

"Holy hell, Baz. Did someone spike your raspberry juice at dinner or what?" Simon shook his head in frustrated confusion. "I have no idea why you would possibly believe that I'm not real, but trust me when I say that I'm pretty damn real and not in the slightest impressed at being awake in the middle of the night. Not to mention that you have obviously gone crazy."

Simon turned away from Baz and let out an annoyed sigh while running a hand through his hair. He took a couple steps then turned back and faced Baz, one hand pinched the bridge of his nose, grasping at his last shred of patience.

_He is absolutely adorable when he is mad. His eyes sparkle like two little stars and a faint blush paints itself across his cheeks. Aaand I can't believe I am this sappy._ Baz gave himself a mental shake.

"Baz," Simon said in a forced calm voice, "I am not a hallucination. Why would you even think that?"

"Well of course you would say that, it's not much fun if the hallucination admits that he's a hallucination." Baz had to bite back the laugh that bubbled up.

_It looks like he's trying to figure out the square root of 89. _

Simon threw his hands up, turned around and took a couple steps then turned right around to glare at Baz. "This is ridiculous, you do know that, right? It is half past three and there are better things we could be doing than sitting in a lab full of rats while you accuse me of being a hallucination." Now it was Baz's turn to raise his eyebrows. Simon frowned while trying to decipher Baz's reaction.

Then he blushed.

"This is crazy," Simon muttered under his breath. He took out his wand from his back pocket and while circling the tip around his own head he said, "Illusion be gone." When nothing happened Simon stuck his wand back into his pocket and threw Baz a glare that said, "You're the crazy one."

"Of course nothing happened; your wand is made of air and imagined pigmentation."

"Yeah, or I'M NOT A HALLUCANTION!" Simon took a breath to steady himself. "Okay, prove me wrong. You do the spell. If I poof out of existence then you can do a happy dance while singing 'I told you so.'"

"You know, you're quite the diva when you're annoyed. Or is it that you're losing your beauty sleep and crankiness turns into sassiness with you? Hmm, maybe I should wake you up more often," Baz's cheek twitched in an effort to not laugh at Simon's face, which clearly said he was not impressed.

"Okay, okay, look, we'll do it your way." Baz shifted a little and reached into his nightgown and pulled out his wand. "Well this is the first time I've had the honour of humouring a hallucination. I guess there's a first for everything, eh fake Simon?

"Stop calling me that. Just do the spell and let's get out of here. It doesn't exactly smell like fresh laundry in here." Simon wrinkled his nose.

_Yeah that's an understatement. On most days the lab smells fine to humans and passable for vampires, but since the Christmas holiday began the lab wasn't being used as often and the smell left something to be desired._

"Okay fake-Simon-whom-I-shall-call-Simon-as-not-to-upset-fake-Simon, take a good last look around 'cuz you're about to pull a Houdini." With that Baz closed his eyes and twirled the end of his wand above Simon's head and said, "Illusion be gone."

He opened his eyes.

"Well slap my arse and call me Frank. Would you look at that, I'm still here."


	4. Chapter 4

Baz gawked at Simon.

_No, no, no, no, NO. There's no possible way. Oh stars above, what have I done? _

Baz felt his breath become panicky. In came a sharp stab of truth and out went a gust of disbelief.

_Such a human response. _

Baz's mind circled around the same thought, stuck on the same track: _he knows._

Sprinting out of the room, using his superhuman speed was such an inviting thought, but he knew that that was the cowardly thing. He would only be putting of the inevitable discussion.

_Hello, we've known each other for years. I'm that annoying roommate who constantly makes snide remarks and sarcastic comments. How are you doing? What's new? Oh not much. I got a new cloak the other day and I performed my first 'calm twisty turny' spell for upset stomach oh and by the way, I'm a vampire. _

Baz dragged his hands down his face and then entwined them and rested them on the top of head in an effort to regain composure and steady his breathing.

Simon took all this in. As he watched Baz's agitation, his annoyance transformed into understanding.

"You really thought I was an illusion," Baz realized out loud.

Baz threw his hands up and looked up, "Well can you blame me? You took it way too damn well. Why aren't you reaching for your wand and yelling a 'defend from evil' protection spell? Why aren't you running out of the room? You should be."

"I dunno, Baz." Simon shrugs. "Cats don't scare me that much." Simon stuck his index finger in the air and announced, "No, that's a lie. The Sphinx cats, you know, the ones with no hair, scare the life out of me. I don't care what King Tut and the rest of his Egyptian pose thought, they look like they got caught in a Nair commercial and now they're plotting revenge. They must get so cold during the winter," Simon added as an afterthought.

Baz shot Simon a withering look. "Gee, I can barely contain my laughter"

Mischief danced in his eyes. "Yeah, I have that effect on many people."

Baz growled in annoyance. "How can you be joking about this? I survive on blood. I have unimaginable sight, unbelievable hearing and unstoppable speed. I'm a predator and the whole bloody world is my prey."

_How is he taking this so well? Shouldn't he be running from the room, screaming? Having me expelled from school? Looking at me with unguarded repulsion?_

Simon sobered up. "Okay, I have one question for you, and it's kind of personal so you don't have to answer if you don't want to." Simon looked at Baz with a straight face and asked, "Does this mean I can't cook with garlic anymore?"

Anger rose up in Baz.

_I tell him I'm a different species and he's making vegetable jokes? He's the first person I've told and he's making a mockery of it. He's supposed to be the touchy-feely one and I'm supposed to be the sardonic one. _

Baz was mad, but also hurt. Hurt that Baz would treat him like this. A voice nagged at the back of his brain, a voice which urgently whispered across his consciousness, telling him that Simon didn't care for him_._

_How could he if he treats me so flippantly?_

Baz turned to walk out of the room.

_I could always quash whatever fang-filled story Simon starts up. If worse comes to worse I could always put an 'oopsie-daisy remember-me-not' spell on him so he forgets. Clean break. It's for the best._ He tried to convince himself._ It would have never worked. Angels belong in heaven and Monsters belong in hell. _

Baz just wondered what fault he had committed against the universe to become a Monster.

He had almost reached the door when he felt a tentative hand on his arm.

"Baz, just hold on a second." Simon's fingers were fluttering nervously above Baz's arm.

It was the hesitation in Simon's vice that made him stop and turn around.

Baz took notice of Simon's still outstretched hand and the way he was anxiously chewing the corner of his bottom lip. Baz's gaze drifted up to the brown anxious ones that stared back at him.

Simon let out a long sigh and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I know. I know and I'm sorry." Simon exhaled and closed his eyes. "I know how to talk to the everyday Baz. We've perfected a system over the years, haven't we? You're the usual salty-tongued one and I try and keep up with my often bad comebacks and usually late wit. That I know how to handle. Unguarded Baz with emotion pooling in his eyes is unchartered territory." Simon swallowed. "It implies trust and I'm worried about screwing it all up." He laughed at himself a little. "Yeah, I guess it's a little too late for that."

A silent moment passed before Baz reached out and with the back of his fingers under Simon's chin, he tilted Simon's face up. Their eyes met and each searched for something.

"I'm a vampire," Baz whispered.

"I know," Simon whispered back.

"I'm scared I'll lose control one day.

"You won't." Simon said it without hesitation.

Baz withdrew his fingers.

"How can you be so sure?"

"If living with you for so many years has shown me anything, it's that you're stubborn. You're stubborn and you're a fighter. Even when temptation beckons you won't answer because you're strong. Strong in here," Simon put his fingers to his temple, "and strong in here," he lowered his fingers to his heart. "Plus in moments of weakness, you know, you have me." A slight flush darkened his cheeks.

_He says it so simply, like he's volunteering to help me clean out my trunk, not restrain me if I'm about to feed on someone. _

"Hey, what are roommates for," Simon added with a slight smile.

Baz looked at Simon, really looked at him for a moment.

_Time to unfasten the last clasp of the mask. _

"Is that all we are," Baz asked quietly.

Simon's eyes snapped to attention before looking away from Baz. His eyes managed to land on everything in the room, but they didn't return to Baz.

_Is he skittish because he doesn't feel the same or because he's afraid to admit that he does? _

"No," Simon said, "I think we might be...friends."

_Friends?_ Baz gaped at Simon in disbelief.

"After everything we've been through how can you say that we're just friends? Friends don't follow each other around to make sure that they don't walk into a death spell. Friends don't lie awake at night listening to the other's breathing. Friends don't think about chasing your blush with my lips as it races across your body."

Simon gasped.

"So what do you say, are we friends?" Baz looked at Simon inquiringly, with one eyebrow cocked.

Simon turned away from Baz.

"I can't keep up with you. You've hated me for years now and now all of a sudden you," he fumbled for the right word and then stuck with, "don't. I don't want to be just another passing fancy," he said quietly a moment later.

_He's the strong one. Strong enough to raise himself, to survive life at the orphanage and defend the entire magical race._

A fierce protectiveness washed over Baz.

_I could never hurt him like that. Use him and then throw him away like a dirty dish rag_. His stomach roiled just at the thought.

Baz silently walked up behind Simon and placed a gentle hand on his back, right between his shoulder blades. "I do fancy you, love, but there's nothing passing about it. I've felt like this for many years but I didn't want to scare you with any declarations." Baz lips formed a half smile at the thought of the reaction Simon would have had to any such declarations from him.

Simon turned around.

"Plus, to be completely honest, for the longest time I wasn't sure if we even wore the same jersey. Your eyes always seemed to be trained on Agatha. I was starting to get a little jealous."

Simon opened his mouth to say something, sputtered and then closed it. He opened it again and managed to croak out, "Years?"

Simon got a faraway look in his eyes, as if he was replaying the last few years to try and find any clues to support Baz's admission. "I never knew," Simon whispered.

"I think we've determined that I'm a master at hiding many things," Baz joked. He joked but he was starting to wonder if this relationship was all one sided affection. Simon hadn't said anything to prove otherwise.

Baz gave himself a mental thump. _You've told this boy so many things today, give him a break. _

With great effort Baz turned away from the conversation and started heading towards the door. "Come on Snow, let's try and get a few more hours of sleep. At least we don't have class tomorrow morning. If we did I'm pretty sure I'd put a curse on the alarm clock as soon as it started blaring."

Baz had almost left the room when he noticed that Simon wasn't following him.

Baz moved to turn around and see what was keeping Simon when his heightened senses picked up on a blur of movement. A confused Baz barely had time to bring his hands up as Simon launched himself at Baz. His hand wrapped around Baz's back and he moved one hand up, cupped the back of Baz's neck and urgently tilted Baz's face to meet his own.

He kissed Baz with such fierceness that it shocked the breath out of him stunned him still.

Simon dug his fingers into Baz's back and pulled him closer, willing Baz's motionless lips to animate.

_Oh Crowley, the things this boy does to me... It feels like molten lava coursing through my veins._

Baz closed his eyes and answered Simon's kiss. He did what he had only dreamed of before. He buried his hands in Simon's golden honey hair and his senses were assaulted. _Gods, does he bathe in apples? _The scent of Simon's freshly washed hair was driving Baz mad. As was the endearing way that his hair had dried in his sleep, sticking up all over the place.

_He feels so good; like curling up with a warm, plush blanket as it pours rain outside. He makes me feel safe, _Baz realized with a start.

Their kiss transformed into something slow and tender. Baz could feel his inside fill with the warmth that Simon was pouring into him. So much love that Baz could feel himself starting to choke up and he had to will himself to keep his composure.

With a lingering kiss, Simon broke away but rested his forehead on Baz's. Their breaths danced in the small space between them.

Simon was the first to collect himself. "Wow," he whispered.

"Yeah," Baz breathed out, blinking as if just coming out of a daze. He closed his eyes and asked the one word that nagged at him, "Regrets?"

Simon pulled his head back and looked at Baz. He took in the way that Baz was braced for the impact of his words. Though Baz couldn't see, Simon's eyes softened as he leaned in and planted a kiss on the space between Baz's eyebrows. "Not a one," he murmured.

He slowly trailed playful kisses down the bridge of Baz's nose and paused a mere hair's width away from Baz's lips and whispered, "Though I am a little worried about you and the fact that I just kissed a guy who could sing me the entire Power Puff Girls' theme song."

Baz closed the distance and muttered, "Oh shut up, Snow," but his lips smiled against Simon's.


End file.
